The Simple Art Of Masquerade

Over the past few decades, enhancements in the visual fields have greatly improved, giving weight on the importance of visual material in text. Something that is more visually stimulating can usually make a text more convincing or credible. The term “seeing is believing” proves this fact. As humans, we tend to believe something if we can actually see it, which is why Jay David Bolter has referred to this phenomenon of the changed role of text and graphics as the “visual culture” in his book Writing Space. “Mere words no longer seemed adequate; they had to share their space with images.” (Bolter, 69).

The author of this book did make use of literary elements to tell the story. These elements are also used in other picture books such as lines, shapes, color and speech bubble. The book is a graphic novel and dialogue takes majority of the writing in the book. The dialogical and concise style of writing of the author including the pictures

The illustrations should help readers anticipate the unfolding of a story’s action and its climax.

Thousands of years have passed since the creation of these stories and up until today, people still admire its beauty and uniqueness through fashion and design. Also, it peeks our curiosity on how people back then have created such art that scholars until today still can’t find solid proof on how it all

We all have a way of channeling our thoughts, some through writing some through painting. The concept

“People only see what they are prepared to see” is a famous quote by Ralph Waldo. This quote emphasises the fact that the purpose of a text can often be unnoticed and misinterpreted by the viewer. Many people only have a limited world experience, and it’s the Distinctly Visual feature of a text which allows the viewer to gain a better understanding. Distinctly Visual texts use a combination of techniques to create and shape an audience’s point of view or interpretation, and visualising a text requires the responder to interpret all of the images presented.

Lastly, the juxtaposition of light and dark is crucial in understanding the difference between the characters’ false identities shaped by society and their genuine ones. In “Nobody Knows”, for example, dark and light play a large role in George and his secret. While in the dark, he decides to act on his

In the essay written by Cynthia Hahn, the principal concern is to demonstrate how images produced to illustrate texts can also enlighten meaning.

In the chapter “The Word on the Streets,” Craig Clunas discusses calligraphy’s power in a society where both literate and illiterate people can understand. He explains that the “writing’s color, materiality, and form” matter more than what the actual content (84). Therefore, even illiterate people can comprehend the importance of a piece of writing (84). In fact, calligraphy on placards were used as a “form of social control,” and this even worked on people who did not understand the words (85). For example, there were some texts so powerful that just their presence was enough to be “an instrument of punishment” (88).

Each character portrayed in The Big Sleep By Raymond Chandler plays an important role in discovering the potential answers to the themes depicted throughout the novel. The Characterization of Phillip Marlowe, Carmen Sternwood, Vivian Reagan and General Sternwood allows the reader to understand who these characters are, if they changed as a result of events that occurred though out the book and how they work together to answer the developed themes of the book. The novel is written in the perspective of Phillip Marlowe, therefore the readers know about Marlowe’s thoughts, intentions and whereabouts throughout the book. Marlowe is a private detective who is hired by the wealthy Sternwood family.

   Unique writing style is definitely an essential element in any piece of writing, and Raymond Chandler uses his style efficiently in The Big Sleep. Chandler's style is one that seems to come easily to him and it also seems very natural to the reader, perhaps because there is not a lot of high, eloquent language. Rich in description and dialogue, the characters seem more realistic to the reader as a result of such details and natural speech. Chandler includes many descriptive words, similes, metaphors; yet they are not complicated or ambiguous which may lead to misinterpretations. He also tends to focus on a few major aspects of the characters, repeating those

Nearly thirty seconds after their first meeting, Carmen tries once again to use this tactic by literally falling into Marlowe’s arms. Even this, however, cannot win Marlowe’s praise. Marlowe quite obviously prefers a capable girl rather than one who literally cannot stand up for herself. Carmen’s own relative weakness resurfaces itself throughout the novel. She “sucks her thumb and looks coy” whenever she gets in trouble, relying solely on her appearance and girlish charm (Chandler 5).

In The Big Sleep, Chandler portrays Marlowe as the knight in shining armor. This establishes a motif of the stained glass window in General Stern wood’s home in the first chapter of the novel and is an appropriate motif in dictating Marlowe’s knightly role in the novel. The stained glass that is reflected in the novel places Marlowe in the position of the knight as it shows a knight who strives to reach a woman to set her free. The fact that he stares at the glass makes him develop the need to offer assistance. This motif is suitable because it sets the stage for what is to take place in the aftermath when Marlowe rescues Carmen. Secondly, Chandler tries to connect Marlowe with the knightly personality from the beginning of the novel that he intended to name his detective the modern knight and a brave man fighting for General Sternwood. He takes the role of the servant to Sternwood’s lord and therefore, in the knightly terms, it is sufficient to say that Marlowe is striving to find justice. Moreover, he is dedicated to rendering his services in the line of duty with much loyalty and honor despite the sexual and financial temptations that come his way. Like the ancient knights, Marlowe has deeply invested in his personal code of chivalry that contain among others, the need to overcome the sexual temptation of whatever magnitude that comes his way. Lastly, as a representation of the modern-day knight, Marlowe comes out in the novel as a tough detective and a brave individual

It is mandatory to examine the hero and essence of masculinity, which is portrayed by Phillip Marlowe in both the novel and film versions of The Big Sleep in order to analyze changes in the perception of female femininity. Throughout Henry Hawk’s 1946 film version of The Big Sleep, Marlowe’s characterization as the hero of the film demonstrates standard masculine qualities of a man:

This is expressed at both the start and the end of the novel. The “light” of Marlow, and his subsequent psychological awareness and evolution, is contrasted by Kurtz, who, as many have expressed, may represent the “dark” half of Marlow.